


Death of the Snake in the Grass

by isakain



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Character Death, Gen, M/M, actually not even vague, sads, vague Thor/Loki
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-03
Updated: 2012-07-03
Packaged: 2017-11-09 02:14:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/450130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/isakain/pseuds/isakain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He had knelt by the squashed and bloodied little head, hardly even recognizable after meeting soundly with Thor’s boot.</p><p>And he wondered what it would be like to die.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Death of the Snake in the Grass

**Author's Note:**

> This is not the saddest thing I have ever written. It was a prompt from a follower on tumblr, and she wanted Loki's death. She gave me free reign, so I ran with it.
> 
> I'm really, really sorry to anyone who reads this... I have no idea what I was thinking.

When he was a boy, Loki would play with Thor in the royal gardens. He could still remember, thousands of years later, the day he and his brother had come across a small snake, still in its' infant stage. It was harmless yet, but when it matured the serpent would be one of the deadliest of its' ilk and the bane of the royal hunters.

_"Brother watch out!"_

Thor had stomped harshly on the thing's head, and, his brotherly duties done, had run off calling for Loki to follow.

But Loki had not followed.

He had knelt by the squashed and bloodied little head, hardly even recognizable after meeting soundly with Thor's boot.

And he wondered what it would be like to die.

Frigga, some hours later, had stood behind her boys while the serving maids had gotten the two young princes prepared for supper.

_"Mother, what's death like?"_

Loki had chirped, looking to the reflection of his mother in the large mirror before them.

Frigga's brow had wrinkled for a split second in deep thought, and then she had smiled with unquestionable warmth, hands folded in front of her.

_"I suppose it would be very much like falling asleep."_

_"Like father's Odinsleep?"_ Thor chimed in, attempting to turn all the way around in his stool to see their mother directly. The maid attending to the eldest prince was having none of that, and she turned him around to face the mirror again.

_"Perhaps. Why do you ask such a thing, Loki?"_

_"I want to know."_  He had answered simply.

That had been so long ago. Loki openly laughed, having not a care who heard it, nor for the fact that he sounded half-crazed.

There was no one around to hear him anyway.

His magic wrapped around him as though to comfort, attempting to seep into his body and repair the damage... but there would be no fixing this. He had tried and failed to repair the gaping, festering wound in his abdomen, but it seemed that being stabbed by a Chitauri bayonet coupled with one of Stark's Repulsor beams was a deadly combination. It was eating him alive.

How ironic that his undoing would come from two normally harmless things combined. 

The magic pulsed and spluttered, straining under his control to abide by his wordless orders. The source of his power was being eaten away as surely as his flesh. It was useless.

He was useless.

Every breath was agony. He tipped his head back, green eyes unfocused as he tried to determine where in the seven realms he had transported himself. He knew he couldn't be far--- he hadn't had the strength for a safe distance. 

His eyes slid shut, and he thought back to Asgard. Back to the royal gardens. Back to the Allfather and the Allmother, to the tan skin, warm, booming baritone and gilded hair of his brother---

Thor.

The only Aesir he had ever loved with his whole heart. He still did. But he had buried it deep, and discarded his heart long ago as he fell into the Abyss.

_Never doubt that I love you._

Who had said that? Oh, he had. To whom? Oh, to Thor. His brother. That's right, to Thor. He remembered standing there, face to face, both of them in full regalia. He remembered seeing the doubt in Thor's eyes, disregarding Loki's own words.

Thor had doubted his love. In that very moment, he had not known whether Loki lied or whether Loki told the truth.

Loki  _lies_.

Loki always lies. But sometimes the best lie is hidden deep within the truth. But Thor had doubted him.

He was the snake in the grass in the royal garden. Another silver laugh, more delirious than the last, bubbled up from his chest to his throat and past his red-stained lips.

Oh, Thor.

"You should have been the one to trample me with your boot, brother." 

He could feel his throat forming the words, but his ears could no longer hear. There was only a high-pitched ringing. No matter. It would have been better to have had his head flattened and have it be over swiftly than to be burdened with so much dreaded emotion at the end.

A confession welled up within him. He felt something he hadn't in a long time. Too long. It had been far too long. He missed the whispers of an incoming storm, the shudder that crawled down his spine at a roll of thunder, or the heat from a crack of lightning. And the soothing balm that was a burst of rain.

"I would give you what remains of my heart--- if you were here,"

He murmured, bloody hand slapping over his chest. All he could feel was the cold metal plate. 

Dull eyes snapped open as a fresh wave of agony swept through him, and his back arched, lips pressed into a thin line.

_"Mother, what's death like?"_

He would know soon enough.

_"I suppose it would be very much like falling asleep."_

Soon.

A deep breath, steadied and calming. He relaxed, eyelids sliding shut for the last time. Yes, he would fall asleep. He was so, so tired.

Very soon.

"Thor---"

_Remember me not as the one who has betrayed, but as the one who loves you more than the Norns could ever have foretold._

Now.


End file.
